Windmill



' lv 20,114 March 8, 1927. c' TURNER ,6 5

w'I NDMILL Filed, Aug,4 4, w24V a sheets-sheet z" 1,620,145 Y Valch 8 1927' c. TURNER WINDMILL Filed Aug. 4, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 j jug. 6

Z/,Zwssf Z dan' ma @am ,SM ya, Ww, l l Y 5 Patented Mar. 8v, 1927. i I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHANNING TURNER, OF GENEVA, ILLINO, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED `STATES WIND ENGINE & PUMP COMPANY, OF BATAVIA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

` WINDMILL. i

Application mea August 4, 1924. serial No. 736,036.

-My invention relates to windmills and vit has particular relation to the provision of new and useful arrangements of mechanism in such an apparatus whereby certain advantages are realized and whereby automatic lubrication of the windmill mechanism is obtained. y

More particularly my invention relates to the central mechanism of a windmill wherein the rotating motion of the windimpelled wheel is changed to a vertical reciprocatory motion of a plunger rod which latter functions to pump the water. In this4 connection, I have provided a structure in which the mechanism may be very compactly arranged and wherein said mechanism may be continuously automatically lubricated by reason of a bath of oil which is contained in anl enclosing casing, the latter surrounding, in a novel manner, substantially all of the moving parts of said apparatus.

In windmills with which I am familiar and which are now employed, a vertical wheel generates power through the action of the wind. This power is transmit-ted to a rotating crank and, by means of a pitman, this rotating motion is-translated into a reciprocatory motion whereby thepump rod is actuated vertically. Due to certain practical restrictions, the rocker arm or `crosshead in the mechanism of the prior art is commonly situated well above the other.

main moving parts of the windmill mechanism, which feature serves to render diiicult the lubricating of said arm or cross-head and associated portions. l Or, if it is desired to lubricate said parts, it has heretofore been `necessary to employ av variety of auxiliary moving parts to properly supply the i oil to the necessary bearings.

In my invention, however, which I herein'after describe more in detail and then point out the essential features thereof in the claims, the aforesaid auxiliary parts are eliminated and a positive method of oiling is insured. This result is obtained in a large part by so designing the mechanism that a rotating crank acts directly on a reciprocating rocker arm. The pitman or other analogous part is thus eliminated and it is possible to place the rocker arm much lower in relation to the other moving parts of the windmill mechanism than was possible in those mechanisms with which I am familiar as now existing in the art. One advantage of such an arrangement is that the bearings of the rocker arm are below the higher positions of the rotating crank and the disk 4or gear which carries the crank, thereby allowing said rocker arm bearings to be properly lubricated.

As I hereinafter point out more in detail, I provide, yfor lubricating thevarious bearings through the medium of oil-trapping means which pick up the oil from the bottom of the casing and so elevate it that a gravity flow thereof ensues, whereby said bearings are constantly receiving oil. Means are .also provided for positively forcing oil over the bearings of the main shaft.

One marked advantage of such a positive system of lubrication is that the inconvenience and danger resulting from the necessity of climbing the tower of a windmill is eliminated. Again, the space occupi-ed by 'return stroke of the windmill, thus applying the power of the wind more efficiently to the pump rod so that the windmill will pump water in lighter winds than has heretofore been possible.

Another advantage resident in my invention, as hereinafter described, is that the comparatively low position of the casing results in considerably more wind clearance with respect to the top partofthe wind wheel and, since the latter portion is the most effective portion of said wheel, the lower part being of'necessity somewhat blanketed y the tower, this is an advantage of marked im ortance.

v eferring now more particularly to drawings- Figure l is a plan sectional view through the casing and operating mechanism of a the windmill vembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 Vis an elevational sectional view i taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. v3 is an elevational sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, the operating mechanism being shown in its lowermost position in this figure;

Fig. 4 is a View somewhat analogous in character to that shown in'Fig. 3, the rocker arm being illustrated in its uppermost position; l

Fig. 5 lis an elevational sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4, this latter view being taken to clearly show the relation of certainessential portions of my invention.

Referring now to the mechanism embodying my invention a wind wheel 10 (the same being only partially indicated since its construction and mounting' are obvious) is shown as mounted on a horizontal shaft 11. Likewise mounted on the shaft 11, are pin- .ions 12 and 13 of the type shown. These latter pinion/s cooperate and mesh with toothed crank gears 14 and 15.

The last-mentioned gears 1.4 and'15 rotate in a bearing 16' which, as shown,l Ais provided onits upper. portion with a conf arms 25 of slotted form, as shown, are pivcave depression 17, the purpose ofthe 'same being hereinafter explained. The bearing 16 is mountedv .(best shown in Fig. v5 in Atrunnions 18-and 19 whereby the axis, a out which the gears 14 and 15 rotate, Amay tilt about its center to provide for any discrepancies .in the meshing'of the various gears. It should benoted-that this latter construction is of lmarked importance in eventuating a compact andv yet eiiicient gear wheel connection between the rotating shaft. and the reciprocatory pump rod. v

The trunnions 18 and 19 are formed on a central portion 20 uprising from a casing 21, which latter is provided to surround the mechanism of the windmill and to contain oil in its` lower portion, whereby proper lubrication is e'ected. This casing is fixed on a mast 22 of the windmill and is adapted to rotate thereabout in a horizontal plane as impelled by the tail. of the windmill.

Crank portions 23 are provided on-the gear wheels 14 and 15 and on these portions are rotatably mounted rollers 24. Rocker r otally mounted as at` 26 in offset portions planer portion, after being de osited thereupon, into the offset portions 2 27, where- 27 27 of the casing 21, it being observed that said offset portions provide a cavity for containing oil around each of the piv.

otal bearings of the rocker arms, thesame being at both sides of said central portion 2O and being connected thereto by a planer portion 28.y Oil may flow on this latter by the' pivotal mounting 26 ofl ther arms 25-25 are, continuously bathed in oil.

j Such oil r`may be" deposited thereon by the rocker' arm oil lifters (hereafter described) or as the result of overflow from the lubri.- cation of the bearing 16, the latter being supplied with oil as hereafter described.

These arms'25 are, in turn, connected to a yoke member 29, the latter having arms 30 30 depending therefrom and the ends of the rocker arms being secured `to said dev pending yoke member arms at 31 31 where-v 75 by, when the rocker arms move upwardly and downwardly, a'reciprocation of the yoke member 29 results. Fixed: in rigid relation to the yoke is a pump vrod 32 which, when. reoiprocated by the yoke, serves to pump the water under the motive power of the wind.

I will now describe more particularly the structure of the bearing for the gears 14 and 15, aswell as certain means associated with the latter, whereby said bearing is constantly lubricated with oil from the bottomof the casing 21. As best shown in Figs.

1, 2 and 5, the bearing 16 comprises an outer. casing which is, as hereinafter indicated, pivotally mounted to trunnions 18 and 19,.so that it may ,swing from sidelto side. 'lhe bearing journal proper 33 is situated within the casing of the stem 16. Both of these members are drilled as at 34, whereby oil which is received in the upper concave portion 17 inds its way into the bearing f and lubricates the same.'

The gears 14 and 15 are provided on their, inner faces with ribs orbins 35 which, wheny 100 they dip downwardly into the oil bath up-A on the rotation of said gears (see Fig. 4) trapl a considerable amount of oil and deliver it at the upper position of the gear wheel movement, to concave portion 17 (see 105 Fig. 5). By means of this particular construction, I am enabled not lonly to provide for any discrepancies in machining which may' occur between the coacting gears, but to insure a constant supply of lubrication. In other words, I am enabled to make a. more practical and less finely machined structure vbymeans of the peculiar mounting of the gears but, at the same time, am

7more highly machine ,closely fitting gear structure was employed.

Referring now particularly .to the structure of the side rocker arms and the manner in which they cooperate with the crank rollers 24 to eventuate desirable results, it will be observed,'particularly in Fig. 6, that these rocker arms are interiorly provided with oil trapping channels 36 which result from the 125 bolting of side members 37 to the lower and upper ortions of the rocker arm. Further- .more, t e rollers 24 have spherical faces 38 which cooperate with the concave channels 36 in such a way as to bear againstthe recip- 130 lifted up considerably above its'normal level i whereby it flows by gravity into those bear`- ings which are required to be lubricated. Moreover, the action of the rollers as they y move to the left (Figs. 3 and 4) is such as to pump some of the oil trapped in the channel through a passage in the connection 3l between the rocker arm and the yoke arms 30-30, whereby oil tends'to be forced forward over the main bearings of the driven shaft l1, and a very efficient lubrication of said connectionis insured;

In connection with the invention just described, the portion ofthe rocker arms which are acted upon by the cranks may be designed in various ways; that is, they may be curved or straight and in such relation to the fixed center of the rocker arm and the center of crank rotation, as to give various relations between the linear velocity of the plunger rod at any predetermined points in its up and down stroke and the angular velocity of the wind wheel. This latter factlcontributes markedly to the advantages resident in an apparatus embodying my invention.

Moreover, as above intimated, the ringshaped rollers which are concentric with, and rotate on, the cranks of thedriven gears -have spherical faces which coact with the bearing faces in the channels of the rocker arms in such manner that the latter adjust themselves freely to bear evenly and without binding on the crank wheels, even when the plane of rotation of the crank gears and the rocker arms are not parallel. This particular type of coacting roller and rocker, therefore, allows for movement of the crank gears, which movement is caused by the mounting of the bearing for these gears in trunnions as hereinafter described.

This manner of connecting the' gear Wheels to the reciprocating yoke permits of proper functioning of the. windmill mechanism without the necessary fine precision in machining the parts and in ,assembling the saine. Moreover, this form of coacting roller and rocker arm insures that the coacting surfaces will also hold the rocker arm in its correct posit-ion relative to the crank gear.

As above described, the rocker. arms are mounted on a fixed axis of rotation, which latter is below the center of the channelshaped space in the rocker arm when the latter is in horizontal position. In other words, the rocker arm bearings are mounted low so that it can be conveniently lubricated by the oil carried up in the channels of the rocker arm.

Again, it should be noted that the bearing connection of the rocker arm with the load rod yoke is likewise below the center of the channel-shaped spaces in the rocker arm. because of this construction, the'latter bearing must dip completely into the oil in the lower positions of the rocker arms. "Again, the point of application of the loadto the rocker arm is lower than the point of support of the rocker arm by the crank or gear wheel so that the rocker arms hang in stable equilibrium on the crank or gear-wheels.

Finally, in this particular connection il, should be noted that the fixed axis of rota-- tion of. the rocker arm, and the fixed center of bearing connection, are substantially in the same horizontal plane when the rocker arm is horizontal. In other words, the radial line between the fixed axis of rotation `and the bearing connection is horizontal and,

is, therefore, substantially' perpendicular to thel load rod, which latter hangs substantial l ly vertical. Because of this, the reciprocatory motion of therocker arm about the fixed axis causes the minimum of travel in the load rod in a direction longitudinal with respect to the rocker arm; that is, because of the above described connection and con-- struction, a much smaller well opening will accommodate the pump rod, sincevthe latter has a minimum side movement. v

Reverting now to the particular construe tion and mounting of the crank gear bearing, which latter I have described above as supported on trunnions,l it should be noted that this mounting is such that the trunnions are held perpendicular to,` and with theil axes in the 4same plane with, the axis of the driving shaft and driving gears and, as

abo-ve pointed out, the axis of the crank gears may rock in a plane parallel to the axis of the driving gears'.

This construction ensures that the driving power of the driving gears is equallyvl divided between the two sets of meshed gears. Moreover, in case it is advisable to use a pair of driven gears which are solid on a common shaft, this distribution 'of power or compensating effect is in no way interfered with, since it does not depend upon the gears being relatively rotatable. This construction, moreover, has the advantage that .in assembling the mechanism, the meshed gears will work together properly without elabof rate fitting and'precautions to insure that theaxes of the two sets of meshed gears are exactly parallel. Finally, all of the advantages resident in the above construction, whereby a minimum amount of machining and fitting is necessitated, are enhanced to obtained through the medium of the instrumentalities above described.

As above indicated, the pump rod is rigidly connected to the yoke, which fact eliminates the necessity for oiling the connection therebetween. In the mills of the prior art, it has been necessary to lubricate'a connection at the top of the pump rod whereby there was alwaysthe objection thatv oil might work down the pump rod to the outside of the gear casing-where it 'would become a nuisance. By reason of my rigid connection, no possibility of the occurrence of such nuisance exists and this constitutes one of the advantages of the same.

`IVhile I have described but one embodiment of4 my invention, it is obvious that load rod and which are l f said gears, rollers rotatably many modifications therein may occur to those skilled in the art, and I desire, therefore, that the lsame be. limited only by the scope of the appended claims or by the prior art. ,p

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States isz- 1. In a windmill'` the combination with a wind wheel having a substantially horizontal shaft, of a pinion upon said shaft, a gear wheel in mesh with said pinion, a crank carried by said gear wheel, a rocker arm actuated by said crank, a roller or ring` which is free to rotate on the crank and is in rolling contact with rocker arm, and a yoke which connects the free end of rocker arm to the plunggr rod or pump rod. y

2. ower transmitting mechanism inchlding a drivenshaft, a reciprocating load rod, a pair of gears driven by said driven shaft, a second pair of gears adapted to'drive said driven by and in mesh with said first pair'of gears, a bearing box for said driven gears, said box being supportedon trunnions to allow the axis of said driven gears to rotate about its center point in a plane parallel to the axis of said pair of driving gears, rocker arms adapted to be actuated by said driven gears, cranks on said driven gears, wheels with spherical facesmounted on said cranks, cylindrical concave surfaces on said rocker arms on whichthe spherical faces of said wheels may roll, anda yoke connection to rocker arms to establish a power between said=rocker varms and said load rod.

3. In a device of the class described, a driven shaft, pinions mounted on said shaft, a pair ofdriven gears meshing with-and actuated by said pinions, crank members on cranks, rocker arms driven by said cranks and provided interiorly with tracks for said rollers, a load rod, and means connecting said rod and said rocker arms whereby the rotary motion of said driven shaft 1s trans- Imain portion v c portion that oil may flow from said main transmitting connection mounted on .said

y realms lated into reciprocatory motion of said rod.

4. `In a device of the class described, a wind driven wheel, a revoluble shaft to which said wheel is fixed, pinions secured to said shaft, coacting gearsin driven contact with said pinions, said gears being pivotally mounted with respect to their axis, .rocker arms driven-by said gears, a reciprocatory load rod, and a yoke operably connected to said rod and actuated -by said arms.

5.. In a device of the 4class described, a driven shaft, pinions mounted thereupon, a pair ofkrgears coacting with said pinions, a bearing for said gears, a pivotal mounting for said bearing whereby the axis of said gears may move pivotally about its cent/er, rollers mounted on said gears and provided with sphericalfaces, rocker arms pivotally mounted to be reciprocated by the rotation of said gears through the medium of said rollers, said arms being interiorly provided with concave channels in which said rollers ride, a load rod, and a driving connection between said arms and said rod.

6. In a device ofthe class described, a wind driven wheel, a revoluble shaft to which said wheel is fixed, pinions secured to said shaft, coacting gears in driven contact with said pinions, rocker arms driven by said gears and having a fixed bearing, a casing surrounding said elements and containing lubricating oil, said casing having an offset oil-containing portion surrounding said fixed `bearing and surfaces so disposed between the of the casing and saidoffset portion to said offset portion.

7. In a device of the class described, a wind driven wheel, a revoluble shaft to which said wheel is fixed, pinionssecured to said shaft, coacting gears in driven contactl with said pinions, .rocker arms driven by said gearsand having a fixed bearing, a casing surrounding said elementsy and containing lubricating oil, said casing having an offset oil-containing portion surrounding said fixed lll) bearing and an elevated part of said casing having an upper pla-ne surface connecting said portions, and means for transferring oil from said. main portion to said surface whence it flows into said offset portion and lubricates the fixed bearing of said rocker arms. a.

8. In a device of the character described, a driven shaft, pinions thereon, gears driven by said pinions, a bearing for said gears, a load rod, members for connecting said gears and nsaid rod, said connection including a bearing point, 4whereby the latter is reciprocated by the rotary movement of said gears, a casing surrounding said elements and filled with oil to a level below that of said, bearing, and means comprising lifting members as'- sociated with said gears for raising said oil a driven shaft, pinions thereon, gears diiven by said pinions, a bearing for said gears, a

load rod, members for connecting said gears and sald rod including a yoke rigidly con- `nected at its upper portion to sai-d rod and pivotally connected to said members whereby the latter is reciprocated by the rotary 'movement of said gears, a casing surrounding said elements and filled with oil to a level below that of said bearing, and means comprising lifting members including fins fixed to said gears adapted to dip into said oil and deliver the same to a point above said bearing for lubricating the latter.

10. In a device of the character described, a driven shaft, pinions thereon, gears driven by said pinio'ns, a bearing for said gears comprising a concave upper surface and a passage therefrom to the journal surface of said bearing, a load rod, members for connecting said gears and said rod whereby the latter is reciprocated by the rotary movenient of said gears a casing surrounding said elements and filled with oil to a level below that of said bearing, and means comprising fins fixed to the inner surface of said gears adaptedy to dip into said oil and deliver the same to said concavity in the top of Said bearing whence it iows through said passage and lubricates said bearing.

11. In a device of the character described,

a driven shaft. a load rod, a connection between said shaft and said rod for coniaerting the rotary motion of the former into reciprocating motion of said rod, said connection including a pivoted reciprocatory rocker arm, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level below that necessary to lubricate oil portions of said connection, and means associated with said rocker for elevating said oil to effect said lubrication.

12. In a device of the character described, a driven shaft, a load rod, a connection between said shaft and said rod for converting the rotary motion of the former into reciprocating motion of said rod` said connection including a pivoted reciprocatory rocker arm, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level below that necessary to lubricate all portions of said connection, and means comprising` oil trapping channels associated with said rocker arm for elevating said oil to eiiect said lubrication. i

13. In-a device of the character described, a driven shaft. a load rod. a connection bef tween said shaft and said rod for converting the notary motion of the former into reciproeating motion of said rod. said connection including a pivoted reciprocatory rocker arm Y and a revoluble roller for reciprocating the same, a casing surrounding said elements `and containing oil to a level below that necessary to lubricate all portions of said connection, and means associated with said rocker for elevating said oil to effect said lubrication.

14. In a device of the character described,

a driven shaft, a load rod, a connection bec tween said shaft and said rod for converting the rotary motion of the former into reciprocating motion of said rod, said connection including a pivoted reciprocatory rocker arm, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level below that necessary to lubricate all portions of said connection, and means comprising a channel in which oil is trapped on the down stroke of said rocker and thereafter pumped thence at an elevated point by said roller. l

15. In a device of the character described, a driven shaft, a load rod, a connection between said shaft and said rod for converting the `rotary motion of the former into reciproeating motion of said rod, said connection including a pivoted reciprocatory rocker arm and a revoluble roller for reciprocating the same, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level below that necessary to lubricate all portions of said connection, an auxiliary pocket offset from said 'main casing, and means associated with said rocker for elevating said oil to effect said lubrication and from which oil also flows by gravity to said pocket offset from the main oil body at an elevated point.

16. In a device of the character described, a driven shaft, a load rod, connecting elements between said shaft and said rod for converting the rotary motion of saidshaft into re'ciprocatory motion of said rod, said connection including pivoted rocker arms, means for reciprocating the saine, and a yoke member secured to said arms and said rod, a casing; surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level insuiiicient to bathe the required bearings, and 'means comprising oil trapping channels on said arms for elevating said oil into required relation with the bearings.

17. In a device of the character described,

means comprising cranks and rollers for reciprocating the same, and a yoke member 'secured to said arms and said rod, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level insuiiicient to bathe the required bearings, and means comprising oil trapping channels on said arms which in cooperating with said rollers serveto elevate said oil into required relation with the bearings.

18. In a device of the character described,

a driven shaft, a loadrod, pinions mounted on said shaft, gear wheels meshing with said pinions, saidgear wheels being journaled in a pivotally mounted bearing, reciprocatory pivotally mounted rocker arms driven by said gear wheels,` a connection between said rocker arms and said load rod whereby the rotary motion of the driven shaft is translated into vertical reiiprocation of said load rod, a casing having a main portion and an auxiliary portion surrounding said mechanism and being adapted to contain oil in the lower portions thereof, means associated with said gear wheels for elevating oil from the bottom of-the casing and supplying it to said pivoted bearing, further means associated with said rocker arms forelevating yoil and supplying the same to the auxiliary portion of said casing, said rocker arms being pivotally fixed withing said latterportion, and means for elevating and supplying oil to the connection between said rocker'arms and said load rod wheebyA the latter is continuously lubricate f 19. In a device of the classl described, a

driven shaft, gears driven thereby, a bearing forl A. said gears, a casing surrounding said gears and containing oil, anV offset portion partitioned in said casing and forming an individual oil containing pocket, means for elevating oil from the bottom of said casing to supply said bearing, and a plane surface extending below said bearingand above the offset portion to receive the overflow from said bearing and transmit it to said pocket to lubricate the bearings situated therein.

20. ln a device of the character described, a driven shaft, a load rod, a connection between said shaft and rod including crank wheels and a bearing for the latter, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level insufficient to lubricate said connection, an auxiliary pocket offset from scribed my name.

said casing at a higher level than the main casmg oil level and containing bearings to belubricated, and means comprising fins on said wheels for raising 'theoil from the bottom of the main casing to lubricate the crank wheel bearing, the overflow therefrom running into said pocket.

. 21. In a vdevice of the character described, a driven shaft, a load rod, a connection between said shaft and rod including crank wheels and a bearing for the latter, a ^casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level insufficient to lubricate said connection, anauxiliary pocket odset from said casing ata higher level than the main casinof Aoil level and containing bearings to be lu ricated, means comprislng fins on said wheels for 'raising the oil from the bottom ofthe main casing to lubricate the crank wheel bearing, the overflow therefrom running into said pocket, and a planer portion extending from below said vcrank wheel bearing to said pocket' and along which said oil may flow.v

22. In a device of the character described, a driven shaft, a load rod, a` connection between said shaft and rod including crank wheels and a bearing for the latter, a casing surrounding said elements and containing oil to a level insufficientn to lubricate said connection, an auxiliary pocket offset from said casing at a higher level than the main casing oil levelv and containing bearings to be luricated, means comprising fins onl said wheels for raising the oil from the bottom of the main casing to lubricate the crank wheel bearing, and means connecting said bearing to said offset portion of the casing and adapted to transmit the overflow of oil from. said bearing to said pocket to lubricate the bearings in the latter. p

ln witness whereogf, I have hereunto sub- CHANNING TURNER. 

